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Improving the health of children under the age of five is one of the main objectives of primary healthcare services in most developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to identify the nutritional status of children under the age of five and its impact on cognitive function.

The cross-sectional study was carried out in a semi-urban community in south-western Nigeria. The sample consisted of 220 school children under the age of five. Anthropometric measurements including weight, height and mid arm circumference were carried out to determine the nutritional status of the children. Cognitive function of the children was assessed using a developmental checklist developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and their performance was graded as good, fair and poor.

The overall prevalence of malnutrition in this study was low with stunting, underweight and wasting recording 8.2, 6.8 and 1.8 percent, respectively thereby making stunting the most common malnutrition indicator in this study. A large proportion of the children (88.6 percent) had good cognitive performance while 11.4 and 5.5 percent had fair and poor cognitive performance, respectively. Among the various malnutrition indicators measured in this study, stunting was found to have a statistically significant association with cognitive development (p=0.005).Stunted children have multiple functional disadvantages that persist throughout childhood and poor nutrition almost certainly plays a role. This paper calls for a need for the Nigerian Government to intervene by ensuring that policies are implemented that will ensure that health and nutritional needs of preschool children are guaranteed right from conception.

In view of the importance of nutrition for cognition in children, this research has shown that the cognitive function of preschool children can be affected by stunting and it has contributed to global data on nutrition and cognition particularly in South-Western Nigeria.

Early literacy and numeracy development among children may be the best measure of a child's well-being. The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of child factors, quality of care and household factors, and community factors in early childhood on the development of literacy and numeracy skills of children in Bangladesh.

For this study, the authors used data from Bangladesh's 2019 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey. The association between response variables and selected covariates was examined using the chi-square test. To determine the risk factors for early child literacy and numeracy development, the authors applied two-level logistic regression models.

Among the total of under five children (n = 9,449), in general, 29.1% of the children were growing in the development early childhood literacy and numeracy in Bangladesh. Children (36–47 months), male children, children with moderate stunting, children with severe and moderate underweight status, mothers without education and primary education, and mothers from the poorest, poorer, middle and richer households were less likely than their counterparts to develop children's early literacy and numeracy skills. In contrast, women from the eastern and central regions, children who read at least 3 books, and early childhood education had higher odds of children's literacy and numeracy skills development than their counterparts.

The results from this study suggest that children's, community, quality of care and household level significant factors should be considered when trying to improve children's literacy and numeracy skills development in Bangladesh.

This study aims to estimate the magnitude of undernutrition and its associated factors [especially child health interventions at Child Welfare Clinics (CWCs)] among children in Techiman Municipality, Ghana.

A facility-based analytical cross-sectional design involving 403 mothers/caregivers with children. Simple random sampling was used to sample study sites and participants. Child health interventions were assessed by adapting items used in the Ghana Demographics and Health Survey. Weight and length of children were measured and used to calculate anthropometric z-scores based on World Health Organization guidelines. Test for associations was performed using bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression. Statistical significance was considered at p < 0.05.

The magnitudes of stunting, wasting and underweight were 20.6% [95% confidence interval (CI): 17–25], 11.4% (95% CI: 9–15), and 9.7% (95% CI: 7–13) respectively. Children aged 12–17 months [odds ratio (OR) = 3.1; CI: 1.3–7.5], male children (OR = 5.2; CI: 2.7–10.0) and children attending CWC 19–22 times (OR = 28.8; CI: 6.6–125) had increased odds of stunting. Additionally, belonging to households with one child under 5 (OR = 2.7; CI: 1.4–5.1) and using borehole/well water (OR = 2.7; CI: 1.4–5.3) were associated with increased odds of stunting. Similarly, being a female (OR = 3.5; CI: 1.6–8.0) and using borehole/well water (OR = 2.1; CI: 1.0–4.2) were associated with increased odds of underweight.

The magnitude of malnutrition, specifically stunting and wasting, exceeds the threshold for public health significance. CWC attendance frequency, age and sex of the child, number of children under five years old in households and water source were significantly associated with undernutrition.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how socioeconomic status and demographic factors were associated with child malnutrition as well as how these factors accounted for socioeconomic inequality of child malnutrition in Bangladesh during 2007-2011.

Data of this study come from two cross-sectional rounds (2007 and 2011) of the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. This paper uses ordinary least square models to estimate the correlates of child malnutrition. The study further uses the concentration curve and the concentration index to estimate socioeconomic inequality of child malnutrition in Bangladesh. Finally, the decomposition method is used to explain socioeconomic inequality of child malnutrition in the study period.

Regression analysis indicates that child’s age, breast feeding, child’s birth order, the number of under-five child in the household, household wealth and parental education were strongly correlated with child malnutrition in Bangladesh. This study finds that absolute level of child malnourishment slightly decreased between 2007 and 2011, but socioeconomic inequality increased during this period. Children from the poorest household endured the burden of malnourishment more than those from the wealthiest households. The level of inequality also increased among the rural children, although it remained stagnant among the urban children. Decomposition analysis highlights that parental education had a significant negative relation with the average level of malnutrition, but its role was primarily centred among children from wealthier households.

An approach linking the ministry of health and education with other ministries may speed up the reduction of inequalities in social determinants of childhood undernourishment. Most importantly, there is a need for comprehensive government policies to reduce growing economic inequality and increase the relative income of the poor in Bangladesh.

This study is the first of its kind to apply the decomposition method to explain the socioeconomic inequality of child malnutrition in Bangladesh. This paper presents an enriched understanding of socioeconomic inequality of child malnutrition in Bangladesh during 2007-2011.

Early years policy and services have been subjected to substantial and rapid reform over the past 20 years. This article provides a brief overview of legislative and policy changes over this period, with a particular focus on regulation and workforce issues, and traces the enduring influence of the Children Act 1989 to the present. It identifies a paradigm shift in early years services from a world view based on public health and care and on devolution of responsibility, to one in which promoting children's learning and development is core and centralised regulation and national standards are seen as essential. This is reflected in changed responsibilities at government department and regulatory body level. Despite these major changes, the article concludes that the key principles of the Act ‐ in terms of children's rights, parents' responsibilities, listening to children and inter‐agency co‐operation ‐ are still apparent.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and standardize nutrient dense, easily digestible and affordable ready-to-eat supplementary foods from locally available ingredients for malnourished children and to assess their nutritional composition.

To develop supplementary foods, wheat and green gram were germinated, dried and made into flour. Potatoes of “Kufri Pukhraj” variety procured from university were washed, peeled, sliced, boiled, dipped in potassium metabisulphite solution, dried and grounded into flour. Spinach leaves were washed, dried and made into powder. Five wholesome ready-to-eat supplementary foods, namely, panjiri, mathi, seviyan, biscuits and pinni, were developed from germinated cereal, pulse and potato flour and spinach leaves powder. The products were standardized with potato flour and spinach leaves powder. The developed products were analyzed for proximate composition by standardized methods.

One-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s test was used to obtain differences in organoleptic scores within different levels of treatments. All five supplementary foods were acceptable at 30 per cent level of potato flour and 2.5 per cent level of spinach leaves powder. Mean scores of panjiri, mathi, seviyan, biscuits and pinni were significantly different (p < 0.05). Significant (p < 0.05) difference was observed in terms of moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre and ash content among the developed products.

The developed ready-to-eat supplementary foods can be recommended for supplementary feeding programmes running in the country.

The paper aims at the development of high energy protein supplementary foods for malnourished children. The developed complementary food blend is made up of variety of food groups like cereal, pulse, root and tuber and green leafy vegetables to provide wholesome nutrition to children. This is different to originally provided supplementary foods to children made up of only cereal. The developed products also add a variety to supplementary foods given to malnourished children in supplementary feeding programmes.

The purpose of this paper is to establish socio-economic factors and maternal practices that determine child mortality in Uganda.

The paper examines the role of sex, birth weight, birth order and duration of breastfeeding of a child; age, marital status and education of the mother; and household wealth in determining child mortality. The study employs a logistic regression model to establish which of the factors significantly impacts child mortality in Uganda.

The study established that education level, age and marital status of the mother as well as household wealth significantly impact child mortality. Also important are the sex, birth weight, birth order and breastfeeding duration.

Policies aimed at promoting breastfeeding and education of female children can make a significant contribution to the reduction of child mortality in Uganda.

Health care intervention programs should focus on single, poor and uneducated mothers as their children are at great risk due to poor and inadequate health care utilization.

This paper could be the first effort in examining child mortality status in Uganda using a logistic regression model.

This research examines the effects of health, location, and other factors on receipt of wage income for young heads of households, aged 19 to 25, who lived in HUD-assisted housing and in other rental housing in 2011.

This chapter reports results of analyses of the 2011 American Housing Survey, merged with HUD administrative records, available as a public-use file at the U.S. Census Bureau.

Nineteen percent of young householders in assisted housing and 8% in other rental housing reported less than good health or a disability. Nearly two-thirds of young householders in assisted housing reported receipt of earned income. For respondents in assisted housing who reported good health and no disabilities, logistic regression models suggest that educational attainment beyond a high school diploma, more than one adult in the household, and living in metropolitan areas in the Midwest or West census regions were positively and statistically significant for receipt of earned income. For respondents in both assisted and other rental housing who reported less than good health and/or disabilities, residence in assisted housing or educational attainment beyond a high school diploma were positively associated with receipt of earned income, while residence in the metropolitan South lowered the odds of receipt of earned income.

Success of self-sufficiency programs will depend on accommodating the imperatives created by health, disability, and structural impediments created by a market economy.

This is the first analysis of health/disability and other barriers to paid employment that accurately identifies a nationally representative sample of young Millennials in HUD-assisted and other rental housing.

After many years of equal opportunities legislation, motherhood still limits womens' career progress even in a feminized occupation such as nursing. While the effect of motherhood, working hours, career breaks and school aged children upon career progression has been discussed widely, its actual scale and magnitude has received less research attention. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of these factors individually and cumulatively.

This paper considers the impact of the above through a longitudinal analysis of a demographically unique national database, comprising the 46,565 registered nursing workforces in NHS Scotland from 2000‐2008. The variables examined include gender, employment grades, number and length of career breaks, lengths of service, age, working patterns, the number and age of dependent children.

The results indicate: motherhood has a regressively detrimental effect on women's career progression. However, this is a simplistic term which covers a more complex process related to the age of dependent children, working hours and career breaks. The degree of women's restricted career progression is directly related to the school age of the dependent children: the younger the child the greater the detrimental impact. Women who take a career break of greater than two years see their careers depressed and restricted. The results confirm that whilst gender has a relatively positive effect on male career progression; a women's career progression is reduced incrementally as she has more children, and part‐time workers have reduced career progression regardless of maternal or paternal circumstances.

This paper is the only example internationally, of a national workforce being examined on this scale and therefore its findings are significant. For the first time the impact of motherhood upon a women's career progression and the related factors – dependent children, career breaks and part‐time working are quantified. These findings are relevant across many areas of employment and they are significant in relation to broadening the debate around equal opportunities for women.

A recent report by the Child Health and Nutrition Working Party of the British Dietetic Association discussed the effects of changing the diets of pre‐school children along the lines currently suggested for adults. Neither the NACNE nor the COMA Reports made specific recommendations for children under five: COMA specifically excluded them and NACNE stressed the potential dangers of modifying children's diets to reduce fat and increase fibre intake. Concern has been expressed amongst dietitians that widespread media coverage of the need for dietary change, in the absence of specific recommendations for children, could result in the extension of the general guidelines to young children.